lifestyle WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Music & Movies Venice film review: ‘A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence’

n a Venice film festival lineup full of cynicism, sui- riage, all of the characters here are adults. Most of tal has allowed Andersson to manipulate his footage Down on their luck, Sam and Jonathan bill them- cide and despair, who would expect the new Roy them have fewer days ahead of them than they do the way directors such as David Fincher and Ruben selves as being in the “entertainment business,” selling IAndersson picture-”the final part of a trilogy on behind, but none seem to truly appreciate the gift of Ostlund do, using their locked-down cameras to make plastic vampire teeth and a corny laughing device being a human being” to be the most life affirming? living. Andersson does, and he wants us to recognize invisible nips and tucks. Regardless of the method, engineered to amuse. These two friends look like they And yet, from its comic title to the wistful smile that it, too. “Pigeon” is a master class in comic timing, employing haven’t smiled in a long, long time. Emerging as the accompanies its over- too-soon last shot, Andersson’s Right up front, the helmer presents three “meet- pacing and repetition with the skill of a practiced con- most well-rounded character in the entire trilogy, delightfully odd “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting ings with death”: a husband who suffers a heart attack on Existence” finds the Swedish master of comic while struggling to uncork a wine bottle, an old lady absurdity feeling downright generous, perched at a convinced she can take her handbag to heaven and a comfortable enough distance from this coterie of sad- cruise-ship passenger who collapses at the lunch sacks and lonelyhearts to recognize the humor in counter, having just paid for his meal (sorry, no such painful subjects as mortality, aging, unpaid refunds). More playful than his fellow Swede, Ingmar debts and unrequited love. Bergman, who famously challenged Death to a game Just last year, Ethan Hawke was quoted as referring of chess, Andersson recognizes that there’s no cheat- to “Before Sunrise” and its two sequels as “the lowest- ing mortality-though sometimes we can speed it grossing trilogy in the history of motion pictures.” But along, like the suicidal CEO glimpsed later in the film. even he probably hasn’t bought tickets to Andersson’s Best just to have a sense of humor about it. incomparable triptych-rapturously received by critics, though auds have proven all but allergic, clearing Slow-motion barely $100,000 so far in the US. The result of four Some critics have mistaken Andersson’s movies as years of rigorous planning and meticulous execution, “depressing” (while others have incorrectly labeled “Pigeon” could fare slightly better than the first two him a “commercials director,” failing to understand installments, “Songs From the Second Floor” and “You, that he accepted those commissions to finance his the Living” (both of which bowed at Cannes), but only painstaking feature ventures). “Droll” would be a bet- just. At least arthouse programmers can now get cre- ter word for the artist’s attitude toward the washed- ative, treating Andersson’s now-complete tragicomic out blue and beige world he presents. His characters opus (a decade and a half in the making) as the spe- wear white face makeup to enhance their pallor, cial event that it is. sleepwalking zombielike through their lives. Even the “Pigeon” is by far the most accessible of the three young couple seen necking on the beach appear to films, offering a continuity through line in the form of be doing so in slow-motion. novelty salesmen Sam (Nils Westblom) and Jonathan In the interval since his last film, Andersson has (Holger Andersson), a comedic duo who’d be right at embraced hi-def digital cameras, which benefit his home in a Samuel Beckett or Tom Stoppard play. Here, aesthetic enormously. Now, the helmer can ensure the Laurel and Hardy-esque pair appear in nearly one- that even the far-distant background of every scene third of the film’s 37 fixed-camera compositions, a appears in sharp focus. Though the colors are dreary series of chuckle-inducing tableaux which clock in at and the characters numb, compositionally speaking, just under three minutes apiece on average. there’s not a single dull frame in the entire film. Andersson thinks like a painter, following Edward From left, actors Nils Studying the faces Hopper’s example of enhancing loneliness by depict- cert pianist. Jonathan suffers from melancholy spells, culminating Westblom, Holger Each of these shots serves as a nearly self-con- ing it within a greater context. He shoots rooms at an in a disturbing dream sequence, where colonial sol- Andersson, director Roy tained comic vignette, like a cross between a “Where’s angle, using perspective to direct our eyes toward the ‘Entertainment business’ diers lead African slaves into a giant copper instru- Andersson, producer Waldo” cartoon and a Gregory Crewdson photograph, activity in adjacent rooms or on the other side of win- Early on, outside a dance studio where the flamen- ment that produces a beautiful sound as the people Pernilla Sandstrom and line and the best way to approach them is as you might a dows, instead of observing everything directly on co teacher gets a little too hands-on with one of her inside are being roasted alive. What a curious species producer Johan Carlsson large-canvas painting or a Jacques Tati film: Study the axis, the way his similarly detail-oriented American pupils, a lady janitor says into her phone, “I’m happy are homo sapiens. Judging by the film, we wage war, pose for photographers dur- faces, soak up the details, allow the eye to wander namesake, “Grand Hotel” helmer Wes, insists to hear you’re doing fine.” (Mobile phones are a rare torture animals and take advantage of one another, ing a photo call for A Pigeon and the mind to free-associate. Where other directors on doing. nod to modern life in a film that appears to be set in a and yet Andersson assures us, things could be worse. Sat on a Branch Reflecting seek out exceptional moments, Andersson endeavors In “Pigeon,” people go about their business in the timeless retro past-and where King Charles XII and his In the grand scheme of things, he’s happy to show on Existence at the 71st edi- to capture the poetry of the mundane. dreary little boxes of their lives, but they don’t behave infantry are prone to drop in unannounced, like char- we’re doing fine. — Reuters tion of the Venice Film With the exception of one scene, in which twin like marionettes on strings, but almost like actors on a acters in a Monty Python sketch.) The cleaning Festival in Venice, Italy, yes- girls blow bubbles from the balcony of a nondescript stage, occasionally turning to address the audience. woman’s line becomes a hollow platitude echoed by terday. —AP apartment building, and another that observes a “Today I feel kind,” announces a cheesemonger, while many of the characters by film’s end, and yet, there’s plumpish new mom (Andersson loves his ladies with a his wife gestures to the audience to let us know she something to be said for merely surviving in such an little meat on their bones) cooing over her baby car- thinks he’s crazy. It’s unclear whether the shift to digi- absurd world as this. Versatile Viggo speaks French in ‘Far From Men’

s there a language Viggo Mortensen doesn’t speak? The much as Mohamed is.” The movie has been praised in Venice, multilingual Danish-American actor has performed in where some see it as a leading contender for the top prize, the Ieverything from English to Elvish. Now he tackles French - Golden Lion. Its theme - the fragility and importance of com- as well the power of silence - in Venice Film Festival entry “Far munication across barriers - is close to Mortensen’s heart. “The From Men,” a stark story about two men, a schoolteacher and world is becoming more polarized ... even though the possi- a murderer, caught up in Algeria’s war for independence. bility for global communication has never been more ample, Mortensen also learned some Arabic for the film by French more conducive to understanding one another,” the actor said. director David Oelhoffen. So how many tongues has he used “I think people use the new means of communication for fur- onscreen? “Lakota, Elvish - two kinds of Elvish - Dwarvish, ther underlining their particular way of looking at things. Arabic, French, Danish, Russian,” he listed. “I think I spoke Physical thread Swedish one time, German, Spanish.” It’s possible he may have “So you become more isolated ... even though it ought to left out one or two. Mortensen - tanned, muscular and radiat- be the other way around.”Talking, in myriad languages, is a ing energy while meeting reporters in Venice - said he choos- feature of many of Mortensen’s movies. So, the actor says, is May Myat Noe, winner of Miss Asia Pacific World Super talent 2014, talks to the media es roles for the chances they give him to study, learn and gain walking. “It’s probably a coincidence but maybe not: I’ve done during a press conference in Yangon yesterday. — AFP new skills. a lot of movies where I walk a lot.” Mortensen mentions “The “You only can improve if you’re challenged,” he said. “You Lord of the Rings,” “The Road” and the Argentine film “Jauja,” as either learn or you fail.” In “Far From Men” (“Loin des Hommes” well as “Far From Men.” The physical thread continues in his in French), Mortensen plays Daru, a former soldier who teach- upcoming “Captain Fantastic,” about a self-sufficient family Dethroned es children in an isolated Algerian mountain region. It’s 1954, struggling to adjust to urban life. and as an uprising stirs against the French colonial power, he Throughout his career, Mortensen, 55, has moved between is ordered to escort a man accused of murder to town for trial, blockbusters such as “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy - he beauty queen seeks apology and certain execution. Daru would rather offer the doomed played Aragorn - and edgier fare like David Cronenberg’s Mohamed (French actor Reda Kateb, who was in “Zero Dark Russian gangster story “Eastern Promises” and Freudian drama Myanmar beauty queen dethroned for return the crown,” he said, declining to give the Thirty”) the chance to escape, but the prisoner is stubbornly “A Dangerous Method.” He has been admired for his ability to alleged misconduct said yesterday she cost of the tiara but explaining it was made over reluctant to avoid death. make independent features while retaining box-office clout. Awould only return her crown if South several weeks by ten specialists. Based on a story by Albert Camus, Oelhoffen’s film unfolds “If I keep doing independent movies maybe eventually people Korean pageant organizers apologized-and “It’s not for us but for her to apologize. She like a Western, full of silence, rugged landscapes and big skies. won’t say that anymore,” he said. “But I’m not worried about denied accepting free breast implants. May Myat has been hurting our image and credibility,” he As the two men traverse the rugged and lawless Atlas moun- that. I think good work eventually finds an audience. “I don’t Noe, 16, was training to become a K-pop star in said in . Choi said his organization hoped tains, both face moral choices, and discover that despite their look for big movies or small movies. I’m just looking for stories South after winning the Seoul-based Miss to handle the sensitive matter “quietly in consid- differences they must unite to survive. Mortensen, who was that I want to see in the movie theater.” — AP Asia Pacific World beauty pageant in May. But eration of relations between and born in New York to Danish and American parents and spent last week the organizers stripped her of the title Myanmar” but was ready to consider a lawsuit “if part of his childhood in in , said he identified with “a for alleged dishonesty, accusing her of abscond- she refuses to cooperate.” Myanmar women are certain displaced quality” in the film characters. ing with the crown and the $10,000 implants, eyeing success in international beauty pageants “He’s denying his past, and he’s running away from life on which they say they funded to enhance her bud- as the country opens up after decades of mili- some level,” Mortensen said. “He is also saying no to life, just as ding singing career. tary rule. Despite undergoing sweeping political Yesterday the beauty queen hit back and and social reforms, Myanmar remains a deeply demanded an apology from the organizers. “It is conservative nation. natural for me to feel that an apology should be But new fashions and overseas products are demanded to rectify the damage they have creeping into the once cloistered nation, sup- done to the integrity of my country,” she told a ported by a proliferation of magazines for young packed press conference in Yangon. “I will return consumers and an increasingly vibrant pop cul- the crown only when they apologize to ture. Last year a US-educated business graduate Myanmar, for the dignity of our country.” May was selected as the first Miss Universe contest- Myat Noe also denied accepting free breast ant to represent Myanmar in more than 50 years. implants. “I was put under duress to undergo May Myat Noe is the latest in a growing list of head-to-toe cosmetic surgery which I refused... I beauty queens from Southeast Asia to run into didn’t have breast implants, but I don’t want to trouble. In June ’s contender for the go into details, to preserve my dignity,” she said. Miss Universe pageant relinquished her crown Her comments appear to have deepened the after she allegedly called for supporters of the acrimony between pageant organizers and their ousted government to be “executed”, sparking a former queen. Young Choi, founder of Miss Asia barrage of online criticism. — AFP Pacific World, told AFP the organizers had pho- tographic evidence of the breast implant opera- tion and that they would consider legal action against May Myat Noe. “She has been lying. She also lied at today’s news conference. She must Actor Reda Kateb poses for portraits during the 71st edition of the Venice Actor Viggo Mortensen poses for portraits during the 71st edition of the Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Monday. Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Monday. — AP photos ‘Maps to the Stars’ acquired by focus world for 2015 release fter winning the best actress award in Cannes for Focus World is the alternative distribution division of International and New York Film Festivals, which are tradi- Wagner (“Wild Palms”) wrote the screenplay. “Maps to the Stars,” Julianne Moore was considered a Focus Features, and it hasn’t been decided if the drama will tionally launching pads for Oscar contenders. On EOne Films International handles worldwide rights to Astrong bet in this year’s Oscar race for her turn as a be released on VOD or if it will play in theaters domestically September 9, Moore is scheduled to appear at a cocktail “Maps to the Stars,” and will directly distribute the film in washed up star in the David Cronenberg drama. But the or some combination thereof. “Maps” could get an Oscar event following a screening of the film at Toronto. “Maps to , the UK, and and New Zealand. The movie overdue actress, who has been nominated for four Academy qualifying theatrical release at the end of 2014, so that it the Stars” premiered at Cannes to mixed reviews, although will open in Canada on Oct 31, and will rollout to other Awards without winning, could be sitting out of this year’s would at least be eligible for Academy Awards nominations, Moore was singled out by critics as delivering one of the regions of the world starting this year. WME negotiated on awards season. In a deal that closed last week, Focus World according to one individual with knowledge, but a movie best performances of her career. The film is a dark decon- behalf of eOne with Anjay Nagpal, SVP, and Gene Kang, VP picked up US distribution rights to the Cronenberg drama with that kind of strategy can sometimes get lost amidst the struction of celebrity culture and co-stars Mia Wasikowska, of Business Affairs, representing Focus World.—Reuters from Canadian outfit eOne, sources tell Variety exclusively. slew of December contenders. Olivia Williams, John Cusack and Robert Pattinson, who pre- “Maps to the Star’s” won’t premiere stateside until early 2015. “Maps to the Stars” will screen this month at the Toronto viously worked with Cronenberg on “Cosmopolis.” Bruce